Background: In the year 2016 there were over 2 million acute ill adults who visited the emergency department and of those 2 million, 1,3 million were being remitted. The definition of being acute ill is a person who needed emergency care. The nurses' role in the emergency care was to evaluate and prioritize the acute ill medical need. In the acute situation the relatives were often put aside and that would cause a negative wellbeing experience. Aim: The purpose of the study was to investigate the relatives' experiences of having family members who became acute ill. Method: A literature study based on an analysis of eleven qualitative scientific articles was conducted. Results: The analysis resulted in two themes; Mixed feelings and experiences when a family member has become acutely ill and Experience in the meeting with a health professional. The results showed the importance of clear and understandable information from nurses. How the relatives were treated also had a significant impact on how they reacted to the acute situation. Conclusion: When a family member becomes acutely ill the relatives experienced the situation as difficult and were concerned over the family member's health. Despite that they were grateful for the opportunity to be present because they experienced that they were comforted and calmed. To have access to professional support and company helps the relatives to control and react to the situation. / I Sverige anländer ett stort antal personer till sjukhus som är i behov av akut omhändertagande och det är vanligt att dessa personer har med sig anhöriga. Sjuksköterskans ansvar är att bemöta och stötta både den sjuke familjemedlemmen och anhöriga i det akuta omhändertagandet. När anhöriga är närvarande upplever de blandade känslor. De känslor som dominerar är rädsla och oro. Anhöriga kan mötas av ett bristfälligt bemötande av sjuksköterskan samt uppleva att informationen som ges är oklar och svårförståelig. Det kan leda till att anhöriga känner att de blir åsidosatta vilket skapar känslor som övergivenhet, ångest och osäkerhet. Att bemöta anhöriga på rätt sätt kan göras genom att utgå från familjefokuserad omvårdnad, där sjuksköterskan ska se varje familj som en helhet. Vid rätt bemötande och information upplever anhöriga tacksamhet över att få möjlighet att vara nära sin sjuke familjemedlem. Detta skapar förtroende för vården och känslan av att få verktyg att hantera situationen. Vid en akut situation används anhörigstödjare som en resurs där deras uppgift är att förklara vad som händer/pågår och stödja anhöriga. När en familjemedlem blir akut sjuk kan anhöriga uppleva en förlust av kontroll över situationen och på detta sätt förändras deras livsvärld. Ett sätt att få tillbaka kontrollen är att få tillgång till rätt förmedlad information. Författarna väljer att göra ett litteraturbaserat examensarbete där 11 kvalitativa artiklar granskas. I examensarbetet framkommer det 2 teman och 4 underteman. Resultatet visar att anhöriga upplever blandade känslor när deras familjemedlem blir akut sjuk. Anhöriga upplever det viktigt att få möjlighet att ge stöd till sin sjuke familjemedlem. Dessutom minskar anhörigas stress om de får stöd från övrig familj och vänner. I mötet med vårdpersonalen har många anhöriga positiva känslor medan vissa anhöriga uppger negativa känslor såsom övergivenhet, osäkerhet, frustration och en känsla av att skapa obehag hos vårdpersonalen. Examensarbetets resultat ger sjuksköterskan en förståelse om vikten av ett bra bemötande och förmedlandet av förståelig information i mötet med anhöriga.

Electrospinning produces submicron fibers from a wide range of polymer/solvent systems that enable a variety of different applications. In electrospinning process, a straight polymer/solvent charged jet is initially formed, followed by a circular moving jet in the shape of a cone, called the bending region. The process physics in the bending region are difficult to study since the jet diameter cannot be measured directly due to its rapid motion and small size (~microns and smaller), and due to complex coupling of multiple forces, mass transport, and changing jet geometry. Since the solutions studied are hydrophilic, they readily absorb ambient moisture. This thesis explores the role of the bending region in determining the resulting electrospun fiber diameter through a combined experimental and modeling analysis for a variety of hydrophilic polymer/solvent solutions. Electrospinning experiments were conducted over a broad range of operating conditions for 4 different polymer/solvent systems. Comparison of the final straight jet diameters to fiber diameters reveals that between 30% to 60% jet thinning occurs in the bending region. These experiments also reveal that relative humidity significantly affects the electrospinning process and final fiber diameter, even for non-aqueous solutions. A model is developed to obtain insight into the bending region process physics. Important ones include understanding the mass transport for non-aqueous hydrophilic jets (including solvent evaporation and water absorption on the jet surface, radial diffusion, and axial advection), and the coupling between the mass and force balances that determines the final fiber diameter. The absorption and evaporation physics is validated by evaporation experiments. The developed model predicts fiber diameter to within of 8%, even though the solution properties and operating conditions that determines net stretching forces and net evaporation rates vary over a large range. Model analysis reveals how the net evaporation rate affects the jet length and net stretching force, both of which ultimately determine the fiber diameter. It is also shown that the primary impact of RH on the process is through occupation of the surface states that limits solvent evaporation rate, rather than the amount of water absorbed. Correlation functions between process conditions, solution properties and the resulting fiber diameters are discussed.

This research addressed the social and emotional challenges kinship adoptive families have encountered when their adopted child's trauma symptomology surfaces. The unique relationship between the adoptive relative and the kinship child offered a different view on the coping techniques used by kinship families and uncovered areas where resources could support permanency. In this phenomenological study, 12 interviews with relative adoptive parents guided by the attachment and family system theories, offered insight to what fosters or degrades the bond with the adopted child. Using post-adoption resource events, service agencies, and community resources, this study recruited participants through flyers posted on websites, agency waiting areas, public bulletin boards, and email distribution. The self-selected respondents learned more about the study to decide if they would participate. The data reached saturation after 12 interviews and the transcribed accounts were reviewed with each corresponding participant. Using NVivo 11 to organize the data,, the transcribed interviews were compared to discover themes inherent to the adoptive relative parent(s). Learning about kinship challenges after adopting a child exposed to maltreatment, neglect, or pre-adoptive trauma and the methods used by these families to overcome thoughts of dissolution or their discovery of areas that would benefit from supportive resources may contribute to the understanding of successful kinship adoption. The implication for social change is the decrease in dissolution rates of the adoptive relationship, thereby creating permanency outcomes in the lives of the children and creating a system of care that is proactive to societal needs and influential in providing for future generations.

The goal of this thesis is to understand how children and adults scale distance. My preliminary work has shown that young children can accurately scale distances along a single dimension (i.e., length) even when the magnitude of the scale difference is very large. In these studies, 4- and 5-year-olds and adults first saw a location marked on a narrow mat placed on the floor of one testing space. They then reproduced that location on another narrow mat that was either the same length (i.e., the memory task) or a different length (i.e., the memory + scaling task) placed on the floor of an adjacent testing space. These experiments illustrated that both children and adults had more difficulty scaling up than scaling down (i.e., had more difficulty going from a small to a large mat than from a large to a small mat). In the present thesis, I used this difference between scaling up and scaling down as a tool to examine the processes underlying the ability to scale distance more generally. I predicted that the difficulty children and adults have scaling up can be attributed to mapping relative distances onto spaces that are too large to be viewed from a single vantage point. Experiment 1 demonstrated that although a visible boundary dividing a large space influenced how children and adults remember locations, scaling up was still more difficult than scaling down. Experiments 2 and 3 examined the influence of absolute size on mapping relative distance. When the absolute size of the test space was reduced, scaling up was no longer more difficult than scaling down. In contrast, when the absolute size was large, both scaling up and scaling down were more difficult, illustrating the importance of absolute size in using relative distance to scale. These findings suggest that when the absolute size of the space is large, children and adults have more difficulty using multiple edges of the space to accurately scale distance. More generally, these experiments underscore how the cognitive system and task structure interact to give rise to the ability to use relative distance to scale.

Indoor Air Quality is an increasing concern in the world today. The mere presence of people in a building or residence can significantly alter indoor air quality. Relative humidity over the range of normal indoor temperatures (66 - 80 degrees Farenheit) has been linked both directly and indirectly to various health and structural problems. The purpose of this project was to discover whether residential dwellings might benefit from an indoor humidification system. The project consisted of the deployment of three separate sensor networks consisting of 12 tmote sky modules manufactured by the Moteiv corporation, each equipped with a temperature and humidity sensor manufactured by Sensirion. Each tmote sky module continuously transmitted the raw data readings to a base station to be processed. The lifetime of each network was approximately four days of continuous data transmission. The results verified the hypothesis that relative humidity levels have a significant affect on the indoor environment and can be linked to the health and structural problems reported by the occupants of each monitored residence. Based on the project findings residential dwellings would benefit from an indoor humidification system, given the symptoms associated with relative humidity level problems exist.

This thesis suggests a new method of developing reading materials for Navajo students. The core of this method is based on phoneme- grapheme relative frequency correspondence data. A short story was phonetically edited and rewritten using the phoneme-grapheme relative frequency method. This short story was one of the major products of the thesis. This short story and three other short stories previously phonically rewritten, were presented in both this form and in original text to 38 Navajo students for reading. Reading speed and reading comprehension were measured for each student on the short stories. The students performed with superior reading speed and with superior reading comprehension on two stories and equal comprehension on two stories. The difference on reading speed was significant at the .01 level. On the two stories with reading comprehension differences, the difference was significant at the .05 level.

Family accommodation is a salient construct within the context of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and occurs in a large majority of affected individuals and their families. Accommodating behaviors can manifest in various ways, including participation in the patient's rituals, modifying everyday routines, facilitating compulsive behaviors, or providing reassurance. It has been repeatedly linked to negative outcomes, such as attenuated treatment response, increased obsessive-compulsive symptom severity, higher levels of family distress, and lower levels of functioning. As such, it is of significant clinical importance to have a standardized measure that is able to be used in research and clinical practice. The Family Accommodation Scale for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (FAS) was the initial attempt at a measure to systematically assess for family accommodation in patients with OCD, with different clinician-rated and self-reported versions completed by the relative arising thereafter. However, to date, there is not a patient-reported version of the instrument. Existing measures focus on reports from the relative (e.g., the patient's significant other, parent), overlooking information from the patient themselves. Additionally, adult patients with OCD often present to clinical services alone, frequently making it impractical to obtain information from their relative. As such, it is important to have a standardized patient-reported measure to examine the accommodating behaviors. The present study sought to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Family Accommodation Scale for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - Patient Version (FAS-PV). A large majority of the participants (88.5%) endorsed at least one type of accommodating behavior in the previous week. Provision of reassurance and waiting for completion of compulsions were the most frequently reported behaviors, while helping with personal tasks and making excuses/lying due to OCD-related impairment were the least frequently endorsed. The FAS-PV demonstrated good internal consistency and test-retest reliability, as well as good convergent/divergent validity. The FAS-PV did not significantly differ from the relative-reported measure of family accommodation in terms of internal consistency or mean scores. Ultimately, the FAS-PV demonstrated sound psychometric properties and utility in assessing family accommodation from the patient's perspective.

For this research, the abnormality of tissue cultured plantlets,vitrification, was examined in Gypsophila paniculata.Measurement of the relative water content and water saturation deficit of plantlets in culture revealed that vitrified plantlets contain relatively more water and less air spaces than non-vitrified plantlets.The effect of relative humidity on vitrification and growth was investigated using a variety of methods.From the results found, it was determined the defining characteristic of vitrified plantlets is water filled intercellular spaces. It was also determined that the primary cause of vitrification is high relative humidity resulting in a lack of transpiration in vitro but that other factors such as unbalanced mineral nutrition or high medium cytokinin can exacerbate vitrification.Further research in tissue culture may investigate the influence of relative humidity on plant growth and morphology, the mechanism by which plants exclude water from their intercellular spaces and refine in vitro tissue mineral analysis as a means by which critical mineral concentrations can be determined. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This research examines socio-cultural change and resilience resulting from holiday tourism and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel. The unique cultural attributes of the Pacific region differentiates it from many other generic sea, sand and sun travel destinations worldwide, providing the region with a competitive edge. This research recognises these essential socio-cultural attributes using Samoa as a case study offering various levels of tourist and VFR interactions. The thesis investigated four communities, their culture and the impacts from holiday tourists and VFR travellers. The research methodologies guiding this research offer an innovative and credible mechanism to assess the resilience of the socio-cultural fabric of a Pacific Island nation with growing holiday tourism and a thriving VFR travel sector. A social and cultural capital approach was used to understand communities and their networks in a dynamic and comprehensive way. A combination of participatory action research techniques and critical ethnographic methodologies were used to interact with respondents. Analysis of data used both quantitative and qualitative analysis methods. Results of this research have significantly furthered discussion of the socio-cultural fabric of those communities studied in Samoa and how individual socio-cultural elements are influenced by holiday tourism and VFR travel. Based on the analysis of these holiday tourist and VFR traveller impacts, the results can guide planning and policy oriented benchmarks for improved socio-culturally sustainable tourism.

<p>Världsekonomin har genom historien med jämna mellanrum drabbats av olika former av ekonomiska bubblor och kriser. Världsekonomin, som idag är inne i en av historiens tuffaste lågkonjunkturer, har präglats av stigande börskurser från 2003 till mitten på 2007. Under föregående år tog det däremot tvärstopp på världens börser, bland annat sjönk Stockholmsbörsen med 42 %. Som bakgrund till den här uppsatsen ligger de senaste årens stora kursrörelser på aktiemarknaden.</p><p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att göra en företagsvärdering av det svenska byggföretaget Skanska AB och således komma fram till om Skanska AB i dagsläget antas vara ett över- eller undervärderat företag på Stockholmsbörsen.</p><p>Uppsatsen är en blandning av kvalitativa- och kvantitativa metoder, där uppsatsen bygger på den teori som finns inom området finansiell analys samt utgår från mikroekonomiska teorier. Skanska AB ska värderas utifrån en kassaflödes- samt en relativvärdering och de slutsatser som presenteras utgår från både en deduktiv och en induktiv ansats. Data för analysen har inhämtats från Skanskas tidigare årsredovisningar samt analytikers prognoser etc.</p><p>Teorikapitlet utgör en beskrivning av grundläggande mikroekonomiska utgångspunkter och antaganden. Uppsatsens teoretiska del består även av en beskrivning av de båda värderingsmetodernas beståndsdelar, samt en beskrivning över för- och nackdelar för respektive värderingsmetod och när respektive metod bör användas respektive inte bör användas.</p><p>Förutom en kassaflödes- och en relativvärdering har även en makro-, känslighets- och branschanalys samt Skanskas syn på framtiden analyserats. Både bransch- och makroanalysen samt Skanskas syn på framtiden pekar på att såväl byggbranschen som Skanska kommer att gå två tuffa år till mötes, då företagen väntas erhålla en minskad efterfrågan, lägre tillväxt samt lägre kassaflöden m.m. Kassaflödesvärderingen visade att Skanska är ett undervärderat företag medan relativvärderingen pekade på att Skanska är ett övervärderat företag.</p><p>Slutsatsen för den här uppsatsen är att Skanska är undervärderat enligt kassaflödesvärderingen, samtidigt som det är övervärderat enligt relativvärderingen. Trots detta blir slutsatsen att Skanska-aktien idag är kraftigt undervärderad och erhåller en köprekommendation på lång sikt. En slutsats har även framkommit i känslighetsanalysen som visade på att företagsvärdet är känsligt för förändringar i företagets fundamenta. Skanska ges en köprekommendation med en långsiktig riktkurs på 158 kr per aktie.</p> / <p>Throughout history, the economy has gone through different forms of economic crises. Today’s economic situation is facing a difficult dilemma, and the world is currently in the middle of a financial crisis. From 2003 until the middle of 2007, the stock market shares in Sweden have shown an increase in share prices. However, during 2008, the Stockholm stock market plummeted by 42%. The dramatic stock price fluctuations from last year’s market serve as a background to this thesis.</p><p>The aim with this thesis is to make a firm valuation for the Swedish company Skanska, and to investigate whether or not Skanska is over- or undervalued in today’s stock market.</p><p>The conclusion of this thesis is built upon the theory of microeconomics and financial analysis. The valuation of Skanska consists of a cashflow- and a relative valuation. The data that is used in the analysis is collected from Skanska’s earlier annual reports and from the analyst’s point of view.</p><p>In the 4^th chapter on theory, a description of the assumptions and the point of departure of basic microeconomics are given. The theory chapter also describes cashflow- and relative valuation while presenting the advantages and disadvantages of each method.</p><p>With the exception of cashflow- and relative valuation, a macro-, sensitive- and a business analysis, as well as Skanska’s view of its future, has been made. The business-, macro analysis and Skanska’s outlook on its future both reveal the following predictions; the construction business will face difficult times for the next two years, and the firm’s demand, growth and cash flows will decrease. According to the cashflow analysis, Skanska is an undervalued firm. However, according to the relative valuation, Skanska is considered to be an overvalued firm.</p><p>In conclusion, Skanska is an undervalued firm and has achieved a buy recommendation in the long run. Sensitive analysis concludes that the firm value is sensitive to changes in the firm’s growth, cost of capital, etc. Furthermore, Skanska gets a target price of 158 kr per share.</p>